Red Life
Red Life is an American animated series created by Elliot Strange. The show is a spiritual continuation of Grojband, this time centered on the antagonist Trina Riffin. The show is aimed at teenagers, but has also gained a following with young adults thanks to its humor. Production Wanting to get back into the television industry, Elliot Strange decided to produce a remake of the Canadian series Grojband. He was never satisfied with the original version, so after negotiating a deal with the original creators Mark Thornton and Todd Kauffman, he acquired the rights to the show and was thus able to make a version of his own (Thornton and Kauffman serve as creative consultants.) Strange's intention to have Trina as the lead character was fueled by him seeing the comedic potential in the character, as well as the wish to further tap into the complex nature of the character. This show marks the second televised appearance of Alison and Colleen, mascots to his company. He managed to get them back from Warner Bros. after exploiting a loophole in his contract with them. Strange originally pitched the show to the Disney Channel, but they rejected the pilot and moved it to Disney XD. The animation was produced by Disney, with in-house work provided by Six Point Harness in order to keep with the feel of the original show. Strange was going to use flash to produce the series but declined before production began due to him wanting the show to stand out from other programs that use the software. Titmouse Inc. took Six Point Harness' place in season 4 due to budget cuts. New episodes aired at 5PM on Saturdays, but this was changed to 7PM on Wednesdays due to the network fearing that younger viewers might see the show. The show was ultimately moved to 8PM on Wednesdays with reruns airing on Thursday at 9PM. The show entered an indefinite hiatus by the fifth season, with Strange claiming the show wasn't cancelled, but he ran out of good ideas. However, he has since claimed that he renewed his deal with Disney and the show will be coming back at some point. Plot The premise is near-identical to the original Grojband, only difference is that the roles of Corey and Trina have been switched. It could be considered a spiritual successor to Grojband, as Trina is still getting routinely humiliated by her brother and his band. The show follows her daily life and how her temper gets her into trouble, leading to her attempting to fix it and learning a moral towards the end. Aside from constantly dealing with her brother, she is also attempting to re-invent herself and fully regain the trust of her friend Mina. The show takes place in Peaceville, a town located in the fictional state of Banstrom (which according to Elliot Strange is a mix between El Paso, Illinois (for the suburban areas) and Melbourne, Australia, his place of birth (for the city portions)) The show is rooted in dark but age-appropriate humor with coming of age elements. It has an emphasis on character development but it also includes a lot of shock humor and social commentary. Most episodes feature monologue openings from characters that play the biggest roles in each episode (particularly character driven episodes). Strange slips in vaguely morbid references in a majority of the episodes, features disturbing imagery on rare occasions among other factors. The show also features occasional throwbacks to the early 2000s, through its references and even the overall outlook. The show followed a non-linear plot line in the first season, but since the finale, the show was re-tooled slightly, which helped to distance it from Grojband. Characters Main * Trina Riffin (Christina Pucelli): A cynical, uppity, insecure, generally negative 16 year old girl who suffers from severe anger issues. These attributes have been brought upon by many years of humiliation caused by her younger brother. Knowing that she'll never get anywhere in life with her attitude, she attempts to become a better person, but more often than not reverts to her old self. Due to constantly getting walked on by nearly everyone, Trina seems to lack mental stability, which becomes more obvious as the show progresses and even culminates in her getting committed to a mental institution. In spite of her generally cruel demeanor, she does care about her brother to some degree, shows affectionate care toward her stuffed moose Mr. Mooseface and she was once a very nice girl, but overtime, she has developed a negative outlook on the world due to its treatment of her. * Mina Beff (Abbey McBride): Trina's on and off best friend. Mina is timid, shy, brainy and socially awkward, and the only reason she ever tried to get on Trina's good side was because she believed she was popular. The two have clashed after Mina finally snapped at Trina due to years of abuse, but Trina is currently attempting to repair their friendship. Mina insists that she never hated Trina to begin with and she merely wanted to show her the error of her ways, though Trina hardly listens to this. In spite of their mixed feelings, with Mina even sharing her disfavor for the stuff Trina does most of the time, they still hang out and confide with one another whenever necessary. In fact, it's shown that both girls need each other since only they could put up with one another. It has been shown that Mina has a violent temper of her own, outmatching Trina's, but her mother has helped her keep it under control. * Alison Meeks (Aubrey Plaza (first appearance and now current), Becky Thyre (until season 5)): Another one of Trina's friends. Alison used to hang with the popular girls, but was blacklisted along with Colleen after both abandoned their leader Seline. She has a peculiar sense of humor, which involves referencing obscure media. Alison's also somewhat of a tomboy, but she felt restricted in expressing that due to the social hierarchy she was once part of. It was revealed in Some Kind of Special that her behavior might be due to some kind of mental disability (hinted to be autism). She has ultra-sensitive eyes and is almost always seen wearing shades. It's revealed in A Lesson On Backbone that she was born in Alberta and moved to the US four months before she began high school. Both she and Colleen were the first characters Strange ever created. * Colleen Dixon (Jessica DiCicco (first few appearances), Melissa Fahn): Colleen is a shy, quiet girl who is within Trina's circle of friends. She is best identified by her pink coat and winter cap (which she wears even when it isn't winter, but removes when it is, and also during gym and at slumber parties) as well as her big blue eyes (which are giant contact lenses). Like Alison, she hung out with the popular girls (it was later revealed that she was part of the group due to insistence from Alison) and when Alison left, she went with her. Colleen is Alison's best friend and the two are seen together the most in the show. Colleen is very shy and unconfident, so Alison is usually the one who tries to help her come out of her shell. Colleen suffers from insomnia and tends to fall asleep whenever none of the girls need her for anything, but this was dropped mid-way into season 2. * Jean Bristow (Jessica DiCicco): Mina's old best friend, back when she still went by Bernadette. Is as much of a nerd as Mina, but isn't very bright, though she is quite resourceful and is well-built. She's a vegetarian who tries to keep her views secret because everyone mocks her on impulse but ever since Trina allowed her to be part of her gang, she felt more confident about her interests. Jean has a relatively sarcastic personality, and doesn't make her occasional resentment toward her friends unknown. In Easy Way Out, it's revealed that Jean has a younger sister. Corey and His Friends * Corey (Robbie Rist): Trina's younger brother, and the frontman of Grojband. He frequently steals his sister's diary and exploits her emotions in order to write hit songs. Naturally, the two siblings hate each other, though Trina is the only one who stresses this. In spite of their troubled relationship, Corey has shown that he does care for his sister, but is unwilling to change his ways. As the series progressed, the two seem to have reached a moral understanding, though they still occasionally bicker. * Laney (Linda Cardellini): One of Corey's friends and out of all of them, she seems to hate Trina the most, though not as much as others outside of Grojband (Corey's her sister, Kin is merely annoyed by her and Kon has a crush on her). Despite being openly critical of Trina, she admits that her being around is a good thing. With Trina constantly antagonizing Corey and his band, it helps make the band's bond stronger and gives them plenty of excitement. She occasionally spends time with Trina whenever Corey and his friends do something she doesn't want any part of. Newcomers to the band tend to believe that Laney is a boy. * Kon (Troy Metcalf): Another one of Corey's friends. An overweight and somewhat idiotic boy who often acts on impulse. He has attempted to court Trina, but after an unknown encounter where she humiliated him, he went on a vandalism spree which led to a 2 year house arrest. He gained a considerable amount of weight and spent his sentence making internet videos. Since then, his sentence was revoked, he has lost weight (mostly) and he now hangs out regularly with Corey and the others. * Kin (Eric Bauza): Kon's brother and a typical nerd. He's a lot more spontaneous than his other friends and he tends to annoy anyone outside of his personal circle. For a time, he relayed info Kon wanted to give to Corey and Laney when he was still under house arrest. Kin frequently clashes with Mortimer over random things, which put him at odds with Trina and her circle of friends. As far as his interactions with Trina go, she seems to be more of an annoyance to him than anything else. * Kate Persky (Jessica DiCicco): One of Grojband's groupies next to Allie Day. Out of the two, she seems to love the band more than anyone else, to the point that she puts herself at risk for the sake of getting close to the band. Her enthusiasm was welcomed by the band at first, but overtime she wore out her welcome, though no one in Grojband told her off because they didn't want to hurt her feelings. Trina often calls her Kate "Pesky", which is a reference to DiCicco's previous role as Maggie Pesky in The Buzz on Maggie. * Allie Day (Amber Hood): Another Grojband groupie. She loves Grojband as much as Kate does, but she's a lot more collected than her. Often times, she tries to serve as a voice of reason for Kate when the latter's about to do something potentially harmful to get close to Corey. She's fairly self-aware, mostly due to an incident prior to her discovering Grojband where she unintentionally injured a rapper she was a fan of when she tried to get his autograph. Recurring Characters * Emory Conti (Jackie Buscarino): A goth/emo girl who had her first major role in Parental Advisory and had her own brief story-arc Emory has a very deadpan and sarcastic personality, but deep down she seeks friendship and is willing to hang with Trina even at the cost of her sanity. She wears a dark purple hoodie and she has bangs that cover her right eye (which was revealed to be a cat-eye.). Emory was revealed to be a cat creature from a breed that intended to destroy the Earth (starting with Banstrom), and Emory was sent to destroy Trina since she was the most powerful force in the state, but she betrayed her people upon learning of the true reason why they wanted to take over the Earth (an anti-humanity motive). * Carrie Frye (Amber Hood): Sits two rows behind Trina. An African American student, she is considered to be a gross girl thanks to her picking her nose, though she seems to be very aware of this factor and is quick to share her fellow classmates' sentiments. Carrie suffers from emotional trauma brought upon by Nancy Burick and tends to keep to herself most of the time. She had her first major role in *beep* where she was part of Nancy Burick's news show, only to betray her later on. She was also invited to help Trina and co. battle Emory in Change is Overrated. Next to Emory, she is a fairly prominent background character and has been shown to hang with more notable characters in later seasons, and may potentially become a main character in the future. It's revealed in Chlomay's Episode that she has 20 siblings. * Mortimer Kantrel (Brian Posehn): A typical nerd who's in the same class as Trina. He has a passion for singing and when he actually does so, he sounds robotic. People tend to ignore or undermine him due to them classifying him as a nerd, which he futilely challenges, but he is still fairly confident nonetheless. He briefly dated Trina, but the two broke up due to the former's family attempting to keep their relationship alive. * Dennis Artranis (Will Forte): Trina's classmate. He secretly has a crush on her, but her fierce temper prevented him from acting on it. Conversely, Trina has little issue with him, save for viewing him as a coward and getting put off by his interests. Trina is very appreciative of Dennis whenever he goes out of his way to do something nice for her. He has an obsession with the fictional band "The Beetlez" and the 70s, which is reflected upon by his mannerisms. Since Love Pentagon, he has made less major appearances. * Cooper (Jon Heder): Dennis' friend. A young African American boy who serves as a voice of reason for his often uncooperative friends. He has a crush on Mina who constantly turns him down, yet he continues to pursue his feelings for her. In spite of his logical nature, he tends to perform humiliating acts, usually to get Mina to like him. Akin to Dennis, he hasn't had any major roles since Love Pentagon. * Dwight (Bumper Robinson): The school bully. His intentions and way of operating change depending on the episode. Some episodes feature him physically assaulting weaker students while others feature him merely insulting them verbally. Within the few interactions he had with Trina, they seem to have a mixed relationship. In one episode, he punches Trina in the face, breaking her jaw and nearly killing her, but in Turnaround, he seemingly helps her make it to the dance so she could be with Nick. Dwight's motives are done not to be mean, but to help build up the self-esteem of others by encouraging them to stand up for themselves. In Parental Advisory, he was sucked into Shayne's eyes and was absent for the entire season, but he has made a brief non-speaking cameo in Peer. * Nick Mallory (Will Friedle in his first two appearances, Greg Cipes for future episodes): Trina's original love interest. He debuted in You Know Where This is Going and also appeared in Turnaround in a psudo-antagonist role. Since then, he has regretted hurting Trina and is interested in getting into a relationship with her, though in Love Pentagon, she claims that boys have brought her nothing but trouble. Was once in Trina's class, but he eventually transferred for unknown reasons. He has regained interest in getting Trina's affection, and the two did become a couple until Trina pretended to break up with him to reassure her friends she'd have time for them (he and Trina date secretly) * Regan Calister (Aly Fainbarg): A girl who is revealed to be a lycanthrope. In episodes that take place in the school, she goes through noticeable changes (early on in the episode she has barely noticeable wolf features like a bigger nose and pointed teeth but later on she gains more wolf features). The school seems to be more than aware of her affliction and have even made her the school's mascot. She could've been the wolf that afflicted Mina in Treat-Ment. * Clohmay Moralson (Ashley Johnson): A nerdy girl who serves as a prominent butt-monkey. She is frequently bullied and put down by her peers and the teachers. She is usually glued to the toilet or given a wedgie by her oppressors. Strange describes the character as someone who was put into the wrong world at the wrong time, is unable to adapt to an otherwise cynical environment and may be a victim of conspiracy. Teachers * Principal Samuel Harris Ivan Trager (Michael Richards): '''The current school principal. He has been with the school all his life and has worked every position, making him a natural leader. Despite this, he seems to lack common sense which often puts his school in jeopardy. He is also somewhat childish, as he often plays with plastic soldiers when he's not conducting business and plays miniature golf in his spare time. It was revealed in Beyond the Third Floor that he lives in the unused higher floors. As of season 3, he seems to have become a father figure to Trina (replacing Ward) and has even been considered a main character. His appearance is modeled after Vladislav Listyev. * '''Vice Principal Charles Ruben Abraham Petkov (Neil Flynn): The second in command at Trina's school. A Russian/British American, he's insecure, unstable and often incompetent at his job, and he tends to give ludicrous punishments to students whenever he's left in charge of the school. He provides the school announcements, most of which he makes up for his own gain. He tends to resort to extreme measures when it comes to solving issues and has practically destroyed the lives of those who accuse him of doing something ill-mannered. In fact, he seems to have a twisted hold on his oppressors, which has enabled him to escape illegal reprimand (he even killed a judge by making him angry enough to give him a stroke). He was the original principal of Wayne Static High until Trager usurped the role after his senior year, and nobody challenged it because they were sick of Ruben. In spite of Ruben being put at a lower position, he still takes the role of principal for special circumstances due to Trager wanting to avoid getting questioned for taking Ruben's role forcibly. * Lee Gaffney (née Corbis) (Florence Henderson (Shirley Jones for later episodes)): Trina's history teacher, though in later episodes, she seems to have taken other teaching roles as well. She is often hard on Trina, thanks to a series of mishaps that befell her (unintentionally caused by Trina) and tends to be very strict. It's implied that she's even more cruel than Trina and Mina and hence, she isn't very popular with her class. It has been revealed that she lives a lonely life and she takes her frustration out on her students. Oddly enough, she is somewhat liked by the staff and most of her students, with each showing that they'd be devastated if she died. Strange announced that her surname will be changed to Gaffney, with the explanation being that she got married and took her husband's name. * Dieter Ruth Pritchett (Donovan Patton): Another teacher at Wayne Static High. He's very lazy and he tends to let students get away with major infractions if it means he could goof off until the period is over. It's implied that he bribes Principal Trager into keeping his job under the condition that his annual paycheck gets halved. It has been believed by many that Mr. Pritchett is a homosexual, but he's simply childish and easily excitable. Beyond teaching, he also works as a defense attorney and is a professional poker player. He's part German. * Coach Nels (Andy Dick): Trina's gym teacher. Of Laotian descent, physically weak and lacking backbone, he doesn't seem to take his job as seriously as he should. Aside from teaching gym, Nels also works as a drama teacher, but since it has been implied that gym was indefinitely cancelled it's possible that Nels is no longer a gym teacher. He's an admitted homosexual and has gone after Mr. Pritchett but it ultimately went nowhere. He seems to have set his sights on Miss Corbis since then. * Grand Connor Bushnell (Teddy Lane Jr.): The science teacher at Wayne Static High and according to Principal Trager, the only teacher with an entirely educational background, so much so that culminated in him becoming an esteemed professor at Banstrom University before he retired. Grand took a job at Wayne Static High after the dissolution of the Black Panthers and a prior conviction driving him into debt. He is the leader of a semi-revival of the Black Panthers called the Black Pumas (which is a more toned down version of the former iteration). He once had a strong hatred of people outside of his race, but overtime, he became more tolerant out of protest toward PC culture. * Jaceon Shadix (Cedric Yarborough): Serves as a proctor for school exams, and seems to have taken Nels' place as the school gym teacher. He works closely with Grand and rarely ever questions what he does. He tends to get worked up whenever the blinds on a window are open (usually during an important meeting) and he would scold whomever he thinks had the blinds open. Jaceon is also vitriolic toward Trager due to an incident that caused his family to disown him and he does whatever he could to ruin his life. * Marv Dulcon (Diedrich Bader): Another history teacher who began appearing in the middle of the third season. He's a conspiracy theorist and a staunch conservative who often brings his theories into whatever's being discussed. He was accepted into the school due to Wayne Static High's right-wing background and has played a big part in identifying issues at the school. * Jenny Farber (Nancy Linari): An assistant/substitute teacher and receptionist at Wayne Static High. She rarely ever speaks and often heads classes that require students to watch a film or a school broadcast. Jenny was actually a very minor background character that appeared in Duckman. Strange threw her in just to see if anyone would recognize her. * Estus (Dave Willis): The school janitor. Estus was previously part of the mob, but was forced to go undercover after he exposed his friends to the police to avoid a life sentence. He also runs a magazine stand on the weekends whenever he's low on money. Estus is plagued by bad luck and in a majority of the episodes he's in, he is often beaten or goes through a similar form of misfortune. He tends to antagonize Trina and company for many minuscule reasons but he never gets the payoff he wants. He's part Armenian. Enemies/Rivals * Trowa (Tamera Mowry): One of the more prominent school bullies. She harassed others regularly along with her former partner Kathy, which led to both becoming the most hated and students in the school. Mina is forced to deal with her after a misunderstanding and right before she could get killed, Kathy betrays her and she is promptly expelled. * Josie Notnice (Lauren Tom): The second most hated student in Trina's school. She left to pursue a music career, which bombed spectacularly and drove her into a manic-depressive state. Kon was the only one who liked her and he attempted to improve her personality, which ultimately failed. * Kathy Banks (Kristen Schaal): A much older girl who formerly worked with Trowa before she left Trina's school. She is self-gratifying towards her body, particularly her butt. When she was still involved with Trowa, she was very loyal to her and she ignored the advice of people who were antagonized by the former, only to finally learn from her mistake after Mina made Trowa reveal her true colors. After Trowa unintentionally insulted her mother, Kathy abandoned her and left school to live with her grandfather in Fresno. However, she makes an appearance in Don't Let the Documentary Do the Talking in a major role. * Seline (Alyson Stoner): A typical popular girl who often made fun of Trina. Alison was her former best friend until she and Colleen deserted her. She played a nasty prank on Mina and Trina helped her to get revenge by humiliating her in front of the school in Mellow out. Seline hasn't appeared anywhere since season one. Her name appeared in the obituary section in the school newspaper, implying that she somehow died (the death was blamed on complications caused by cardiovascular disease.) * Nancy Burick (Andi McAfee): The owner of the in-school news network. The network came about through her insistence alone (and it led to the school's inclusion of a daily after-school news podcast before the school's own news show.) Thanks to this, the students have to stay at school longer, and they naturally hate Nancy. She plays a major role in *beep* where she rigs the school raffle and becomes the school announcer. Nancy was ultimately done in by her own ego and the betrayal of her co-anchor and was promptly expelled from school. Other Adults * Ward Riffin (Christopher Titus (season 1-2), Wallace Langham): Trina's biological father. Ward unintentionally drove Trina's mother away when she was four, and unable to cope with the guilt, became more apathetic toward Trina, which wore on her self-esteem. Trina was taken away from Ward after an anonymous tip was given to child services, and was adopted by an unknown father along with Corey. Ward has attempted to get back within Trina's good graces, but failed since he caused Trina to become what she is today. Ward's appearance is modeled after that of Stuart Charno, who has appeared in Strange's previous series (what is) Film. He was originally voiced by Christopher Titus, but prior to the season 2 finale, Strange called out Titus on Twitter over the later's constant focus on political issues (both contrast on their political views) and Titus was fired. Ward's last appearance was a brief cameo in What a Way to End the Year (this time voiced by Wallace Langham). Corey claims that Ward fled to Canada following the inauguration of Donald Trump. * Superintendent Sigon (Keone Young): The superintendent of Wayne Static High. He was first mentioned in later season one episodes when he talked to Principal Trager over the phone, and he later had his first major role in Quick Cuts where he oversees the school's fundraising seminar. He seems to take orders from a celestial chicken. * Alvin McDouglaston Chesterfield (Jim Wise (Eric Edelstein for his first appearance)): The manager and financial advisor at A&M's. He's a more strategic thinker when it comes to conducting business who shows no empathy when it comes to work-related issues. Trina used to work for him and he was impressed with her work-ethic, so much so that he's open to work with her on any operations she's involved in. * Trent Jenkins (Josh Gad): An acting coach. He was the one who caused Trina's vicious temper to develop after she endured two years of him bullying and belittling her all because she was chosen over someone else he had in mind. Trina is forced to work under him so she could get enough experience to land a bit-part in an upcoming movie and the two fight again, but Trent's attitude proves to be too much for him to control and he supposedly fades into nothing. Trent is based on director Josh Trank. * Earl (Brian Cummings): A customer who makes appearances whenever A&M's is featured. His first speaking role is See Me As I Work where he scolds Trina over a mistake with his order, and again in Don't Let the Documentary Do the Talking where Kathy takes food from his plate. It's implied that he has an obsession with Dane Cook. His name is never mentioned in the episodes, but his name is listed in the credits as Earl. Places * Banstrom: A fictional state comprising of various providences and cities, including Peaceville where Trina and co. currently live. Implied to be right on the border between the US and Canada and formed as a safe-haven for those with controversial opinions. ** Peaceville: Reportedly one of the largest areas in the state, comprising of a suburban neighborhood and a thriving city district. The area was founded by Richard Peece, but was named "Peaceville" under a recommendation by the council to avoid mockery. Episodes are always set in this location. ** Arcania: A gated community comprising of a suburban neighborhood and various parks, as well as housing one of the largest fertilizer companies known in the state. An urban legend has stemmed from the area regarding their fertilizer company and how they make their fertilizer using bad individuals, before it was confirmed that they acquire the bodies after they've long passed. The remnants are then sent to the families of the causality for free for use in their front lawn so the departed could always be with them. Is also known for their free public golf course. ** Rockmond: The countryside. One of the loser areas in the state. It's best known for hosting violent metal concerts and festivals. The area has been abandoned since the start of the 90s, but people still go there to do stuff that wouldn't normally be allowed in other areas. ** Prosperine: The beachside. It's revealed that nobody owns their own property, save for the town council and instead people could only rent houses there. * Trina's House: Located on Seldar Court. It's a simple suburban home, but since Smart?, the house has become a lot bigger. It includes a garage and shed, which are both connected to the house. The house as a media room, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room and a backyard. Corey and Trina have big rooms, which help when they have company over. Trina's room specifically has a big waterbed that's close to the window, a walk-in closet and a bathroom. * Wayne Static High: The school Trina and her friends attend. The school has ten floors, but only the first three were ever used. Because of this, various urban legends plague the school, which the staff uses in order to get more students to join. It was revealed that the school was only seven floors high, but when Trager became in charge of the school, he converted the lower levels into new floors and blocked off access to the original seven (he lives on the top floor). Trina and her friends eat lunch on the roof (with stairway access being available on the third floor). Only eight staff members consistently work there (others often depart by the end of the month) The school is structurally sound and is conveniently located at the end of the neighborhood. It has a statue of Wayne Static in the front, a fountain, a flagpole, a big schoolyard with a playground (that includes a jungle gym that's rumored to cross over into other universes) and a landscaped front yard. According to Principal Trager, the school was originally called Alexander Hamilton High, but it was changed out of respect for the lead singer of Trager's favorite band. Starting with season six, the school will be renamed to Chris Cornell Memorial High. * Vapor Burger: A local burger joint. It originally appeared in the first half of season one, with a prominent appearance in Turnaround where Trina and Mina get to choose from the secret menu. Near the end of season one, it was replaced by A&M's. In Smart?, Trina implies that this restaurant was shut down by the Board of Health. * A&M's: A restaurant/gas station/convenience store that's loosely based on Sheetz. It's especially popular in the neighborhood thanks to the owners connecting with their clientele through social media.Trina briefly worked there as a cashier and later a fry cook before getting promoted to manager, but she eventually quit due to her making back the money she owed Estus. Spin-Off Prior to the show's series finale, a spin-off was announced based around Alison and Colleen entitled The Alison and Colleen Program Show. A premiere date hasn't been announced, but it will debut at some point in the year.Category:Red Life